Disability Management Program - Assignment Example

 Introduction Disability management program is an effort by the employer of an organization to reduce the factors which cause injury in the workplace and subsequently enhance the employee retention. Every organization should design a disability management program that supports the organizational work pattern and the size of the work place (Dyck & Borner, 2006). The vision of disability management program is to ensure that injured or ill workers are able to return to the work as early as possible. It also ensures their stability in the job. It also ensures their safety after returning to the work place (Yukon, 2012). Disability management program Supervisors in any organization face various challenges regarding the size of work unit, timely delivery of project and employee motivation. Illness and injuries are the most common reasons that an employee shows for absenteeism. The main challenge for an employer is to manage the absenteeism so that the departmental goal can be achieved timely and the cost of project execution can be minimized (Barnetson, 2010). The disability management program focuses on preventing the cause of absence due to illness, disability and injury. Cooperation and respect need to be promoted among supervisors, employees and unions to create a successful disability management program. There are various steps to be followed to build a successful disability management program. These steps includes building a team-based management; developing a framework, obtaining resources etc (Barnetson, 2010). Importance of disability management program in an organization Disability management program has an extended effect on various levels of organization (Yukon, 2012). It could be beneficial to the employers, employees, union and health care providers. Active participation of each and every team is necessary as it ensures the proper work execution in the workplace and it also ensures benefits toward the employers and employees. Disability management program helps employers to manage cost and to improve benefits for employees by creating more cooperative, productive and safe workplace (Kelloway & Francis, 2010). This program also helps employer to reduce the cost of recruitment and training and reduce the time and cost of employee turnover. A well designed disability management program enables employers to reduce compensation cost of workers’ and it helps them to reduce accidents in workplace (Csiernik, 2014). Disability management program helps employees to generate awareness about all the cost of injuries and sickness. These programs are beneficial to improve moral and relation between employees within the organization. Successful implementation of this program increases the performance of employees. It also helps them to retain their income, job skills, benefits and job security (Csiernik, 2014). This program also provides various benefits to union or employee representative. Unions or employee representatives can successfully preserve jobs and benefits for employees through these programs. It also helps them to promote management reactions. Disability management program helps the health care providers to understand the work activities of the patients’ and it also helps them to increase the awareness about good health (Kelloway & Francis, 2010). Through various activities in this program, health care professionals are able to improve the opportunity for patients’ recovery. Impact of employer’s motivation on the design of disability management program Employers play a vital role in designing of disability management program in an organization (Barnetson, 2010). They are an essential part of the disability management design. They need to monitor each and every step very carefully so that this program can help them to retain experienced employees. Workplace injuries, accident or illness of a valuable employee can be very costly to the employer. Researchers have shown that absenteeism imposes a huge cost on Canadian economy. Estimated value for the cost is $16 billion in 2012 (The conference board of Canada, 2012). Unavailability of experienced employees due to sickness or illness can cause delay in project management and subsequently effects in revenue generation. If an employer needs to recruit workers very frequently then it will generate cost to the company with less return. Through a proper disability management program employers can offer to start a suitable job activity to the employee (Barnetson, 2010). Therefore, it gives an employee the opportunity to maintain their job security. There are few major steps to design this program. The key steps of disability management programs are commitment, assessment, developing framework, resources, building collaborative and team-based management, building capacity by introducing training and awareness and measurement of result. Every employer needs to develop return-to-work-process. This return-to-work-process can contribute a lot in solving work related illness and injury. When designing return-to-work-process employees need to consider some valuable points such as the job that are being offered to the employees is meaningful and can generate desired outcome from them. It should be analyzed properly if the offered accommodation and job modification to the employee is suitable and return oriented (Csiernik, 2014). The new job placement for the injured employee should be transitional and must accrue full return of pre-accidental job. Commitment The first step of disability management program is establishing a long-term commitment on the part of the management and the employee representative committee. There need to be an implementation team for such program and active participation of various levels of management is necessary to make it work (Kelloway & Francis, 2010). This will help employer in early intervention and they will be able to help the employee as early as possible. This step is also important to modify workplace accommodation and eliminating workplace barriers. Assessment Before starting any program, it is very important to analyze the current workplace. It helps to recognize the history of accidents. Current return-to-work-practice in the organization needs to be observed very carefully as well (Kelloway & Francis, 2010). Based on these analyses, management can find out the area of concern and determine the importance of applying new program. This analysis will help in the form design and worksheet measurement. Resources Dedicated human resources are the important part of the success of any disability management program. Proper allocation of human resources is necessary for the implementation of this program. This responsibility should be given to an existing employee rather than appointing any new employee (Kelloway, Francis & Montgomery, 2010). Existing employee can show a cooperative approach in the work and can use input from each and every team. Developing framework A properly designed framework is important for successful execution of this program. This framework will take care of all the legal obligations and policies. It will also clearly divide the roles and responsibility among the workers and it will clarify the expected outcome of this program (Pimentel, 2007). Developing these policies and executing this procedure ensures fair, consistent and appropriate treatment of the employee who is returning to the workplace after an injury. Building collaborative and team-based management To facilitate an effective disability management process, a team requires proper support from management. This management structure depends on the size and location of organization. Building capacity by introducing training and awareness Everyone in the organization must be aware about the available services and program. This awareness will enhance the access to these programs. Management needs to design sound communication across organization. Before starting the program all levels of managers and employees, who are involved in this program, need to be trained properly. Measurement of result The outcomes of this program need to be monitored and evaluated time to time. This will ensure continuous improvement in the program which will make it more effective and result oriented. Impact of employer’s motivation on injured workers Proper design of a disability management program is not only valuable to the employers; it also provides numerous benefits to the employees as well. Employers’ motivation helps an organization to plan an effective disability management program and also direct the organization to a successful execution of this program (Csiernik, 2014). Return-to-work-process helps employees to gain benefits in the workplace. The suitable candidates for a disability management program are those who got injured in the workplace. It also ensures their early recovery from the illness or injury. This procedure helps them to maintain their job and assure them about the security in the job location. Proper training and awareness is useful for employees as they can return to the earlier job pace and it helps them to accrue the job skills (Kelloway & Francis, 2010). Employees who have availed the required support can return to the work more quickly. Less absenteeism from work helps them to retain proper pension and benefit package (The conference board of Canada, 2012). Various activities in the program motivate the injured employee to return to the normal life activity as soon as possible and it minimizes the uncertainty of their future. Researchers have shown that the longer any employee is absent from any workplace, it become more difficult for them to return and adjust in the new work pattern (Workplace Wellness: Issues and Responses 2014). This program makes employees aware about the compensation of their injuries. This program can help an employee to find out their suitable responsibility in the organization after returning from injury. Workers can gain benefit from the transitional employment assignment (Kelloway & Francis, 2010). Involvement of the healthcare workers make employees aware about their time to time health improvement. Conclusion Disability management program is a vital part of an organization. Employers should be motivated to execute every step of the disability management program so that they can prevent disability, rehabilitate the valuable resources and reduce the human resource cost of the company. Though this disability management program is designed to reduce the absenteeism and loss of valuable workforce from the workplace, sometimes it can be misused by employees to generate benefits and compensation (Pimentel, 2007). Employers need to be alert about these loopholes when they are designing this program. References Barnetson, B. (2010). The Political Economy of Workplace Injury in Canada. Canada: Athabasca University Press. Csiernik, R. (2014). Workplace Wellness: Issues and Responses. Canada: Canadian Scholars’ Press. Dyck, D. E. G. & Borner, H. (2006). Disability management: theory, strategy & industry practice. London : LexisNexis Butterworths. Kelloway, K., Francis, L. (2010). Management of Occupational Health and Safety. Toronto: Nelson Education. Pimentel, R. (2007). Disability Management For Non-Occupational Injuries/Illnesses. Retrieved from http://www.miltwright.com/articles/disabilitymgmt-nonoccinjuriesillness.pdf. The conference board of Canada, (2012). Disability Management Programs Can Help Employers Curb the Cost of Absenteeism. Retieved from http://www.conferenceboard.ca/press/newsrelease/13-10-08/disability_management_programs_can_help_employers_curb_the_cost_of_absenteeism.aspx Yukon, (2012). Disability Management and Accommodating Employees with Disabilities. Retrieved from http://www.psc.gov.yk.ca/pdf/dmu_disability_management_procedures_framework.pdf. Read More